Now, we have once again been spoiled for choice this week as thousands of new shirts were added to collections on our Showboat app. Sifting through them and compiling a completely subjective list for your reading pleasure is arguably the highlight of our week. Grails, forgotten classics, shirts from clubs we didn’t know existed… it’s an education for us every seven days.
We’re thrilled that so many of you continue to add your shirts to our platform and we hope you have as much fun as we do browsing the tens of thousands of classic football shirts on display.
So, without further ado, here are the top 5 shirts added to Showboat this week. Enjoy!
5. Manchester United - Third - 1995/96
Squint hard and you might just be able to see a football shirt here. The infamous away shirt that made Sir Alex Ferguson order his team to change into the third kit at half-time against Southampton at The Dell.
United wore this shirt only five times in total but managed to lose four of those games. The shirt became something of a bad luck charm and, for many United fans, it’s one they leave out of their collections. For other collectors, who seek out such curious wonders, the shirt represents an anomaly: a Manchester United shirt from the 1990s that is strictly associated with losing.
4. ADO Den Haag - Away - 1998/99
This is a club that, despite playing in the Eredivisie, might not be a household name to many football fans across the world. But ADO Den Haag have pedigree. They are from one of the three biggest cities in the Netherlands, The Hague, and actually have a decent rivalry with the likes of Ajax and Feyenoord. But they have never been able to compete with the big boys of Dutch football on the pitch.
In football shirt terms, though, ADO Den Haag have often punched above their weight. Which isn’t to say they’ve got more right than wrong. The club have had some truly horrific sponsors that have blighted some otherwise lovely clobber. In fact, we had to go back to their 2001 Cup edition before we found a decent shirt from them this century, but in the 90s things were a little different. They had a few brilliant Lotto shirts, but they also went through a short spell with FILA that really put them on the map.
This lovely long-sleeved number, complete with the VHS sponsor, is one we’d love to house in our own collection. Our valuation team clocked this rare gem at £325.
3. Fenerbahçe - Goalkeeper - 1996/97
A matchworn Champions League jersey from the iconic goalkeeper Rüştü Reçber. We don’t really need to say more. But we’ll try.
The three stripes set this shirt off perfectly. The logo jumps from the shirt. The Adidas print on the collar is a throwback to a bygone era. Then there’s the marvellous, slightly out-of-place Champions League match ball on the sleeve. Even the sponsor looks like it was ironed onto the shirt ten minutes before kick-off.
It’s exactly the kind of thing we love to see on Showboat when we’re browsing collections. Top marks to this collector. Our team valued this at a whopping £850. Worth every penny.
2. Ghana - Home - 1993/95
This is a very special football shirt that would, ordinarily, take the top spot. It’s a shirt that was worn during Ghana’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign, sure, but this is not really a shirt tied to one particular moment. Some shirts need to be tied to a win, or even a heroic loss, in order to stand the test of time. This one doesn’t. It’s bigger than all of that.
It’s bombastic. It’s bright. It evokes voodoo and witchcraft to some, and sheer hedonistic delight to others. It’s a marvel. And that’s despite having the most basic collar imaginable.
It was one of a number of incredible Ghana shirts uploaded this week. We valued this one at £285.
1. CD Palestino - Away - 1994
Another interesting club, but one with a more fascinating history than most. CD Palestino, as the name suggests, has deep ties to Palestine, having been founded in 1920 by Palestinian immigrants. The Chilean club also has a long history of producing wonderful shirts, never more so than in the 1990s.
This shirt, made during Adidas’ relatively short spell as kit manufacturer of the club, is one of the very best they ever produced. It features the colours of the Palestinian flag and the Adidas trefoil on both numbers on the back of the shirt. This is a shirt that belongs in a museum.
Our team had the impossible job of valuing this one and settled on £575. A beautiful shirt that, as you can imagine, is almost impossible to find.
Those are our five favourites from this week, but there are tens of thousands more football shirts sitting in collections across Showboat. From matchworn rarities and obscure 1990s gems to the shirts you had as a kid, you can browse collections, value your own shirts and build your digital archive on the Showboat app.
